People with hearing loss are now able to buy hearing aids right off store shelves without a prescription, saving those who cannot afford prescription hearing aids thousands of dollars.
The Food and Drug Administration said its new rule will benefit those with mild to moderate hearing loss. According to one leading manufacturer, prescription hearing aids cost an average of $4,000 per pair.
Debbie Majors still likes to go to the beach, but not in the deep water. She blames a scuba diving injury in her 20s for mild hearing loss.
“I actually ruptured my eardrum,” she said. “So, I know it’s not probably where it could be had I not had that accident.”
Majors said her hearing slowly declined over the years, but she doesn’t like the idea of paying $2,000 to $7,000 for prescription hearing aids that might not be covered by insurance.
“Our deductible, which is the best plan we could get, is $17,000,” said Majors, who is just a couple of years too young for medicare. “We would end up paying the whole cost I guess.”
She is now planning to buy over the counter hearing aids set to be sold at chain pharmacies and department stores.
CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, and Best Buy are among the chain stores planning to sell these off-the-shelf devices that the White House estimates could save people $3,000.
However, a leading advocate for the hearing impaired says not everyone will benefit from the low cost and lower quality of these off-the-shelf hearing aids.
“There’s a whole lot that goes into programming hearing aids to make sure you’re getting the tiny sound or the scratchy background noise that you may hear,” said Beth Wagmeister of West Palm Beach, an activist for deaf people and others with disabilities.
According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders, hearing loss jumps with age.
- Adults 55-64 with hearing loss………….9%
- Adults 65-74 with hearing loss………...25%
- Adults 75 and older with hearing loss…50%
Majors believes it makes more sense to her by paying hundreds for over-the-counter hearing aids, instead of thousands for the models prescribed by doctors.
“They get so expensive that you just can’t afford it, and do without,” she said.
